where did the term redneck come from?

Question

and do the whites find it offensive or not?

Answer 1

I think it came from the fact that a lot of country people work on farms and wear shirts while they're working outside. They get sunburn on their necks and arms. I don't think whites find it offensive. Look at all the jokes and songs about being a red neck. Most country folks are proud of their upbringing.

Answer 2

The term redneck was originally associated with men in the southern United States in the early 40s and 50s.

It originated from the fact that the majority of men that owned ranches or farms had a pick up truck (before the extra cabs), and the sun would burn their necks as opposed to the northerners that drove cars.

Originally, it had no derogatory meaning whatsoever, and in fact was a compliment, since a redneck was obviously an affluent man since he owned a farm or ranch, and needed a pick up truck to haul supplies to the field (Pick ups weren't trendy back then, and few people could afford to own one unless it was a work vehicle).

Over time black people began to use the terms 'redneck' and 'cracker' as an attempt to degrade white males (thus the misunderstanding that it originated as a term to describe a field worker, a peasant, or an ignorant or uneducated individual).

Since southern men have always been proud of their heritage, the term had no more of a derogatory meaning to them than the term Southerner or Rebel (before it became trendy), and although many still use it today in an attempt to degrade someone, true rednecks are proud of the term, and use it regularly to describe themselves.

By the way, I am a redneck myself, and yes, I am proud of it.

Answer 3

Redneck, in modern usage, predominantly refers to a particular stereotype of people who may be found in many regions of the United States or Canada. The word can be used either as a pejorative or as a matter of pride, depending on context.

Usage of the term redneck generally differs from hick and hillbilly, because they reject or resist assimilation into the dominant culture, while hicks and hillbillies theoretically are isolated from the dominant culture. In this way, the term redneck is similar to the word cracker.

Check out Wikipedia for some very interesting

Answer 4

I'm half white, half Native, and I find the term extremely offensive. Why would anyone be proud of it? You can be "country" without being a redneck---the term has too much negativity associated with it.

And the term couldn't apply to people who don't sunburn either, could it?

Answer 5

When white men used to work in the feilds, after slavery im assuming, only the backs of their necks would get sunburned because they wore long sleeves and pants and generally they faced down. This is where redneck came from. I dont find it offensive. I live in rural alabama. It doesnt bother me. I just tell myself it means hard worker. Its not like its stands for racism or kkk or anything. It really means country. and thats what i am.

Answer 6

i have native american heritage and redneck has nothing to do with our heritage. I personaly find the term indian offensive because they mistakenly thought they landed in india they call us indians. I accept native american but iam a redneck because i work outside for a living and am very proud of that fact. the people fighting for jobs in kentucky did wear red bandanas and stole they already used term for their cause. i for one consider redneck an honorable name.

Answer 7

The National Covenant and The Solemn League and Covenant (a.k.a. Covenanters) signed documents stating that Scotland desired a Presbyterian Church Government, and rejected the Church of England as their official church (no Anglican congregation was ever accepted as the official church in Scotland). What the Covenanters rejected was episcopacy — rule by bishops — the preferred form of church government in England. Many of the Covenanters signed these documents using their own blood, and many in the movement began wearing red pieces of cloth around their neck to signify their position to the public. They were referred to as rednecks. Large numbers of these Scottish Presbyterians migrated from their lowland Scottish home to Ulster (the northern province of Ireland) during the 17th Century and soon settled in considerable numbers in North America across the 18th Century. Some emigrated directly from Scotland to the American colonies in the late 18th and early 19th-centuries as a result of the Lowland Clearances. This etymological theory holds that since many Scots-Irish Americans and Scottish Americans who settled in Appalachia and the South were Presbyterian, the term was bestowed upon them and their descendants.

Answer 8

I heard it came from farmers in the field who had red necks from the sun Red neck an proud Nothing we like better than to do Business with same cute mouth Yankee who thinks they are smarter than us Just love taking their money In Texas y'all can tell a state trooper His left arm in sun burned and a short and tight hair cut

Answer 9

Farm labourers, out in the sun all day tilling soil, so they got sunburnt (red) necks. The equivalent of calling somebody a peasant.

Answer 10

well I think because when on the union and confederacy times soldiers wore a rag on the back of their necks it was part of the uniform. union soldiers wore a yellow rag and Confederate soldiers wore a red rag so union soldiers called them rednecks.